Dateline: The Shadow – Who was David Moffitt and what crimes was he convicted of? Details from the true crime show, explored

David Moffitt was convicted of first-degree murder and burglary in one of Iowa’s most disturbing cases of personal revenge, as shown in Dateline: The Shadow.

This episode of Dateline: The Shadow aired as part of Season 6, Episode 9 and dives deep into the 2014 killing of Justin Michael, a man who was murdered in bed while sleeping beside his fiancée. The episode doesn’t start with violence. Instead, it begins with what looked like a normal relationship, a couple engaged to be married, wedding invitations already sent, and no sign that anything was wrong.

The show slowly builds up what happened that night and why it wasn’t random. Viewers are walked through the investigation from the moment police arrived in Grimes, Iowa, to the later discovery of a crashed red Ford Taurus and the unraveling of a strange link between the victim and his killer.

Dateline: The Shadow focuses heavily on what detectives uncovered piece by piece and how it all led back to Moffitt, a man who, at one point, had barely been on the radar. The case turned out to be less about a break-in and more about obsession, identity fraud, and calculated steps that led to murder.

Dateline: The Shadow - How David Moffitt’s jealousy turned deadly in the Justin Michael case

David Moffitt wasn’t a name that raised any alarms before May 2014. He was a 27-year-old man from Pleasant Hill, Iowa, working a job at Wells Fargo and living what seemed like a typical post-breakup life.

But what Dateline: The Shadow reveals is how that surface-level normalcy hid something much darker. Moffitt had briefly dated Angie Ver Huel in early 2013. Their relationship ended after a few months, and soon after, she met and fell in love with Justin Michael. Within a year, she and Justin were engaged. They moved in together in Grimes and sent out save-the-date cards for their wedding. What they weren't aware of was that Moffitt hadn’t moved on.

According to the episode titled Dateline: The Shadow, Moffitt learned about their engagement in September 2013, and from that point on, things started spiraling. He worked in the same department as Justin at Wells Fargo. Co-workers didn’t notice tension, but prosecutors later demonstrated evidence that Moffitt had become obsessed. When police searched his home, they found detailed notes outlining surveillance of Justin’s house.

These included observations about neighbors, times of activity, and which entrances might be easiest to access. The situation took a more bizarre turn when investigators discovered Moffitt had created a fake ID under the name of Andrew Wegener—another ex of Angie’s. Using that identity, he purchased an assault-style rifle from a private seller in Sigourney, Iowa.

On the night of May 7, 2014, Moffitt broke into Justin’s home while everyone was asleep. Justin’s mother, Marie Michael, was staying in a guest room. She later told deputies that a man in black clothing entered her room and pointed a red laser light at her face, then turned and walked out.

Seconds later, she heard gunshots. Moffitt had entered the master bedroom and shot Justin four times while he lay asleep—once in the neck, twice in the face, and once in the temple. Angie, sleeping next to Justin, woke up after the shots but couldn’t identify the intruder.

Roughly 30 minutes later, off-duty officer Cory Rose came across a red Ford Taurus that had crashed near Granger, about five miles from the crime scene. The driver was David Moffitt. He was taken home in a cab.

The next day, as per Dateline, deputies searched the crash site and found ammunition matching the shell casings found at Justin’s house. They also recovered shooting earmuffs and a receipt with Andrew Wegener’s name. That’s when the investigation locked in on Moffitt.

Moffitt was arrested the next day and charged with first-degree murder and first-degree burglary. His defense team claimed he was not in control of his actions, citing depression and side effects from medication.

But prosecutors pointed to the planning, the fake identity, and the staged burglary scene as proof he knew exactly what he was doing. On July 1, 2015, he was found guilty. He is now serving life in prison at the Iowa State Penitentiary with no possibility of parole.

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